1909

[fernset]

THE YEAR 1909

This will boggle your mind.
The year is 1909. One hundred years ago.
What a difference a century makes!
Here are some statistics for the Year 1909 :
************ ********* ********* ******

The average life expectancy was 47 years.

Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub.

Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone.

There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles
Of paved roads.

The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year .

A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year,
A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.

More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME .

Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION!
Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which
Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. '

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used
Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from
Entering into their country for any reason.

Five leading causes of death were:
1. Pneumonia and influenza
2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea
4. Heart disease
5. Stroke

The American flag had 45 stars.

The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!!

Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea
Hadn't been invented yet.

There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write.
Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school.

Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health'
( Shocking? DUH! )

Eighteen percent of households had at least
One full-time servant or domestic help.

There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. !

I am now going to forward this to someone else without typing it myself.
From there, it will be sent to others all over the WORLD - all in a matter of seconds!

Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.
IT STAGGERS THE MIND

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[matiki]

....

The average wage in 1909 was 22 cents per hour.

....

Sugar cost four cents a pound.

Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.

Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.

....

Those lists are always interesting. I do puzzle over why examples like those I quoted above are included - perhaps to see if we're paying attention?

2007 average wage was $40,405/2080 hours = $19.42 an hour.
National Average Wage Index
(numbers are higher through the BLS)

A dozen brown eggs cost $3.99 at my local store, white eggs around $1.99. That's 20% and 10% of an hours wage respectively.

The numbers for 1909 reflect a cost of over 60%. In today's market, to be a comparable cost we would be paying more than $12 for a dozen eggs!

For costs to be the same modern vs. historical, we'd be paying about $3.50/pound of sugar - I pay that much for 5 pounds.

For coffee we'd be paying over $10 a pound - I pay about that for good coffee.

Just a little perspective on perspective.

The other stuff is very interesting.

[Sheldon J]

There were no labor laws, you could be fired for not working your 16 hour shift 7 days a week, for calling in sick, or being late one day, 10 year olds were forced into jobs such as these as well...

People died from Asama, appendicitis, and tonsillitis, and went blind from cataracts... Dentistry was in it's infancy and people died from bad teeth too...

Yes a lot of it sounds idealistic crime was low because they punished criminals, AKA they executed violent criminals. Prisons were not places where we treated convicts with kid gloves but we put the kibosh to any violent behavior..

If you were caught as a kid doing wrong your dad would take his leather belt to your rear and you remembered it for a very long time... No one yelled 'Child Abuse" when he did either....

Mess up in school and the teacher would take his willow switch to you and you remembered that as well, and no parent criticized the teacher for disciplining his kid when they needed it...

You attended church on Sunday with the family, and the preacher would give you fire and brimstone sermons, you did family stuff, family's were tight knit and stood togeather...

Picnic's, sing along, hikes, you knew your neighbors and they knew you, times were simpler, you got your news from the local paper, your community was a tight group of people you all knew and respected... Travel was local and the majority of money spent stayed in your community...

There was no federal income tax, State income, or city income tax, this stuff did not happen until much later....

Full auto was legal, but who wanted to hunt with it.... too many bullets spoiled the game, and hunting was a highly acceptable method of putting food on the table, food was locally grown, often in your own garden.... Cities were small and government was too....

[ErnieNWillis]

There were no labor laws, you could be fired for not working your 16 hour shift 7 days a week, for calling in sick, or being late one day, 10 year olds were forced into jobs such as these as well...

People died from Asama, appendicitis, and tonsillitis, and went blind from cataracts... Dentistry was in it's infancy and people died from bad teeth too...

Yes a lot of it sounds idealistic crime was low because they punished criminals, AKA they executed violent criminals. Prisons were not places where we treated convicts with kid gloves but we put the kibosh to any violent behavior..

If you were caught as a kid doing wrong your dad would take his leather belt to your rear and you remembered it for a very long time... No one yelled 'Child Abuse" when he did either....

Mess up in school and the teacher would take his willow switch to you and you remembered that as well, and no parent criticized the teacher for disciplining his kid when they needed it...

You attended church on Sunday with the family, and the preacher would give you fire and brimstone sermons, you did family stuff, family's were tight knit and stood togeather...

Picnic's, sing along, hikes, you knew your neighbors and they knew you, times were simpler, you got your news from the local paper, your community was a tight group of people you all knew and respected... Travel was local and the majority of money spent stayed in your community...

There was no federal income tax, State income, or city income tax, this stuff did not happen until much later....

Full auto was legal, but who wanted to hunt with it.... too many bullets spoiled the game, and hunting was a highly acceptable method of putting food on the table, food was locally grown, often in your own garden.... Cities were small and government was too....

I wish I had access to a time machine.: